2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes § 115C-122. Early childhood development program; evaluation and placement of children.

Part 6.  Range of Services Available.

§ 115C‑122.  Early childhood development program; evaluation and placement of children.

The General Assembly of North Carolina declares that the public policy of North Carolina is defined as follows to carry out the policies stated in G.S. 115C‑106:

(1)       The State shall provide for a comprehensive early childhood development program by emphasizing preventative and remedial measures designed to provide the services which will enable children to develop to the maximum level their physical, mental, social, and emotional potentials and to strengthen the role of the family as the first and most fundamental influence on child development. The General Assembly finds that the complexity of early childhood development precludes the enactment of legislation which is of a sufficiently comprehensive nature to encompass all possible implications. The Departments of Public Instruction and Health and Human Services shall, therefore, jointly develop an early childhood development program plan with flexibility sufficient to meet the State's policy as set forth in this subdivision. Said plan shall provide for the operation of a statewide early childhood development program no later than June 30, 1983.

(2)       The State requires a system of educational opportunities for all children with special needs and requires the identification and evaluation of the needs of children and the adequacy of various education programs before placement of children, and shall provide for periodic evaluation of the benefits of programs to the individual child and the nature of the child's needs thereafter.

(3)       The State shall prevent denial of equal educational and service opportunity on the basis of national origin, sex, economic status, race, religion, and physical, mental, social or emotional handicap in the provision of services to any child. Each local school administrative unit shall develop program plans to meet the educational requirements of children with special needs and each local human services agency shall develop program plans to meet the human service requirements of children with special needs in accordance with program standards and in a planning format as shall be prescribed by the State Board of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services respectively.

      The General Assembly intends that the educational program and human service program requirements of Session Laws 1973, Chapter 1293, shall be realized no later than June 30, 1982. The General Assembly further intends that currently imposed barriers to educational and human service opportunities for children with special needs by reason of a single standardized test, income, federal regulations, conflicting statutes, or any other barriers are hereby abrogated; except that with respect to barriers caused by reason of income, it shall be permissible for the State or any local education agency or local human services agency to charge fees for special services rendered, or special materials furnished to a child with special needs, his parents, guardian or persons standing in loco parentis unless the imposition of such fees would prevent or substantially deter the child, his parents, guardian, or persons standing in loco parentis from availing themselves of or receiving such services or materials.

(4)       It is recognized that children have a variety of characteristics and needs, all of which must be considered if the potential of each child is to be realized; that in order to accomplish this the State must develop a full range of service and education programs, and that a program must actually benefit a child or be designed to benefit a particular child in order to provide such child with appropriate educational and service opportunities. The General Assembly requires that all programs employ least restrictive alternatives as shall be defined by the Departments of Public Instruction and Health and Human Services. (1973, c. 1351, s. 1; 1981, c. 423, s. 1; 1997‑443, ss. 11A.49A, 11A.118(a).)